Prints having red hue after 2 weeks

[InkAmateur]

Hello,
I'm new to the forum and I'm hoping someone here can help me understand what causing my prints to have a red hue (I mean really red) after about 2 weeks. I've never had a problem like this before, I use a Epson Photo Stylus R320 to create sample 8x10 photos that will later be printed by a professional shop, I also use it for printing family photos.

I am using ink from a non-OEM supplier, but I have never had any issues with my suppliers in the past. Listed below is the work flow I followed.

• Print calibration test sheets on the photo paper that will be used
• Wait 4 hours for the ink to dry.
• Scan the test sheets and create printer profile.
• Print 2nd set of calibration test sheets using new profile.
• Wait 4 hours for ink to dry. Visually compare colors to standards.
  • Color match is good
• Print family photos
• Color looks good, no issues.
• Set pictures on a table to dry. They were not in direct sunlight, in fact they were in a shaded part of my office.
• After 2 weeks I finally had a chance to look at the pictures again. I had to fly out of town on business.
• All of the pictures had a deep, very deep, red hue to them. Even the calibration test sheets turn red during the 2 weeks.
• Replaced the ink cartridges with cartridges from another shipment and supplier.
• Recalibrated the printer using the proper media and methods above.
• Reprinted photos
• After 4 days the prints started getting a red hue, in 2 weeks they looked like the previous batch.
• Ran a cleaning and print check, everything was fine.
• Replace all the cartridges again, with ones from the original shipment. Recalibrated and re-ran the photos.
• They maintained color on this final run and I have not had a problem since.

Is it possible for ink or paper chemistry to vary that much? Could it be a printer problem? Please let me know if you have any ideas what could have caused this.

Thanks for your help,
Al

 

[Harvey]

I have seen this behavior with Kirkland Paper and other cheap brand. What paper are you printing on?

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I think you are victim of the poor fade performance of the inks you are using, you have done everything right to get a good color output for your print, but it's a sad fact that lots of 3rd party inks - refill or in non-OEM cartridges fade quickly or faster - you almost can watch a print fading, and cyan is fading the most giving you a red color cast after a short while.
There are 2 active agents - sunlight and ubiquitous ozone, even in very low concentration, it is there, all the time - day and night.
You have these options to fix the problem - use Epson OEM cartridges which are pretty expensive, but the Claria ink Epson is offering you is one of the best inks in terms of fading performance. OEM inks all are better than any refill ink - whether it's Canon Chromalife or Epson Claria.
Or you go for refill and use an ink by Epson - you should look up the Epson ET-7700/7750 printers which use a special refill ink - bottled - Epson 106 in Europe, the number may be different in other business regions, and this ink is performing as well as the Epson Claria inks. I have posted lots of test details about ink fading performance - the last one here
https://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/brother-bottled-ink-bt5000-6000.12359/page-4#post-107687
And there is another element possibly impacting the fade performance as well - the paper you are using, I have found that better PE papers let inks fade slower than cc (cast coated) papers, the PE papers have a plastic back side - a thin PE film, and cast coated papers have a more fibrous paper like back side so it is easy to identify them.
And there are additional measures you can take which reduce the ozone impact - sealing and framing a print behind glass, and the glass will reduce the UV impact somewhat but there is typically not much UV indoors unless you are posting your prints under fluorescent lamps, they filter most of the UV but not all. And some halogen spot lights w/o UV protection filter are not good, but that's not a typical situation.